I’ve never been through West Fork of Misery Canyon, but it is one of the canyons I want to do this spring. How different are spring runoff conditions in the East Fork of the Virgin through Parunuweap Canyon compared to those in the North Fork? Are flows in Parunuweap this time of year likely to be high enough to cause me problems between the West Fork’s terminal Grotto and the spot where the climb out begins?
Yahoo Canyons Group
mojave_ben
If you follow the water course to the normal exit, this is the section that might get you if the water is too high:
http://web.media.mit.edu/~geek/ben_pix/zion08/parunuweap.jpg
It’s maybe 100-150 yards or so of wall to wall water. What’s underneath is soft sand, and some quicksand. The photo is a July shot, so at low water. It got belly button deep on me (I’m 6 feet) in a few spots. Would be a swimmer at high water but as long as the current isn’t enough to bash you into the walls, not bad, and no awful boulders to scrape yourself on, with all the sand.
You will see this section almost immediately downstream from Misery and can judge how you want to exit.
ro2848
Thanks for the description of the alternative exit and the gauge data. This is just what I was looking for.
Amazing that current flow through the East Fork is almost three times the median for today’s date! Parunuweap must be deep and fast right now.
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, David Buckingham wrote:
east fork of virgin river USGS gauge near Glendale UT. > Flow might be slightly larger at Misery / E Fork Junction
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?09404900
David Buckingham
east fork of virgin river USGS gauge near Glendale UT. Flow might be slightly larger at Misery / E Fork Junction
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?09404900
nat_smale
One of the exits from the mouth of the west fork of Misery doesn’t require going down Parunaweap at all, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Right at the mouth you can head up the slope to the right (west). It’s steep and brushy, but not too hard or exposed. I used this exit once, and didn’t set foot in the Parunaweap. The other exit is few hundred yards down canyon, and could possibly be a problem if the river is high.
Nat
— In Yahoo Canyons Group, “ro2848” wrote:
I’ve never been through West Fork of Misery Canyon, but it is one of the canyons I want to do this spring. How different are spring runoff conditions in the East Fork of the Virgin through Parunuweap Canyon compared to those in the North Fork? Are flows in Parunuweap this time of year likely to be high enough to cause me problems between the West Fork’s terminal Grotto and the spot where the climb out begins? >